Obituaries

James Luin Rutherford

Photo of James Luin Rutherford
James Luin Rutherford Jr., 92, of Batesville died Sunday. He was a lifelong Batesville resident, retired banker, landowner, and a member of a pioneer Independence County family. As a young boy he was given the nickname "GG" by his cousin. He was preceded in death by his wife, Kathleen Roberson Rutherford; his parents, Elizabeth Jenkins Rutherford and James Luin Rutherford Sr. and his brother, Robert Spencer Rutherford and his wife, Ina Belle Nicholas Rutherford. He is survived by his son, James L. "Skip" Rutherford III and his wife, Billie of Little Rock and his grandchildren, Blake Spencer Rutherford and his wife Jessica Dean of Philadelphia, Martha Luin Rutherford and Brian Locke, of Asheville, N.C. and Mary Kathleen Rutherford Jennings and her husband, Clark, of Washington D.C; his niece Robin Rutherford Roach and her husband, Jeff, of Memphis and his nephew, Robert Nicholas Rutherford and his wife, Tracy of Cooper City, Fla. A 1942 graduate of Arkansas College (now Lyon College) where he lettered in baseball and basketball, he was elected to the Arkansas College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1991. He was also named King White River in 1992 at Batesville's annual White River Water Carnival. He began his banking career with First National Bank of Batesville in 1957, attended the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking at SMU and retired as executive vice president in 1987. He was a veteran of World War II where he served in the Pacific as a commissioned officer in the United States Coast Guard. He co-owned, with members of his extended family, and managed two farms in Independence and Jackson Counties. Their ownership spans four generations. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Batesville serving both as a deacon and a trustee. Memorial services will be held 2 p.m. Saturday, March 8 at the First Presbyterian Church in Batesville. Burial will be private. Arrangements are by Roller-Crouch Funeral Home of Batesville. Memorials may be made to the First Presbyterian Church, 775 E. Boswell Street, Batesville, Ark. 72501 or to the Old Independence Regional Museum, 380 South 9th Street, Batesville, Ark. 72501. You may sign the online guestbook at www.rollerfuneralhomes.com.

Published March 4, 2014

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